A woman buys grapes at the market in Cobán, Guatemala. The grapes and apples on sale were from the United States, though Guatemala grows many delicious tropical fruits. (Richard McGuire Photo)
The central market is just a block from my hotel in Coban, and there’s a lot of action there on Christmas Eve.
There are sellers of toys for children, of flowers, clothes, and tables with mountains of firecrackers. The firecrackers here are huge and no doubt would be banned in Canada — there’s enough of them to start a small regional war, and I hear them banging quite often.
I took a number of pictures — some surreptitiously of the general action, and some posed, like the one of the lady selling flowers, who took off her jacket for the picture. At one bookstore where I tried to find a map, the young sales women asked me to take a picture of them, so I did, as did several other people in the street. I then went to a place that does instant digital pictures and got some 4 X 6 prints to give to the people who posed. They were thrilled, and one little girl (about 10) gave me a hug, and “Gracias. Feliz Navidad.”
Speaking of which, the song Feliz Navidad plays everywhere, as do a number of other Christmas songs. It’s been strange hearing them sung or played in different styles in different places — the reggae Christmas carols in Belize, and now various Latin styles here.
The main square has a Christmas tree that I’ve pictured below, sponsored by Gallo (rooster) Beer.
This woman was selling flowers at the market in Cobán, Guatemala. I asked her to pose and later gave her a print of the photo. (Richard McGuire Photo)These women in a stationery store in Cobán happily posed for a photo. (Richard McGuire Photo)This girl sits by a mountain of explosives in a market at Cobán, Guatemala. Guatemalans absolutely love their fire crackers, and at times like New Years, it sounds like a war zone with explosions going off continuously and thick gunpowder smoke filling the air. I wondered about the danger of a stray spark in a market like this one. (Richard McGuire Photo)The market at Cobán, Guatemala, was less colourful than some of the more indigenous markets of the country, but on Christmas Eve, it was a hive of activity, and great for people watching. (Richard McGuire Photo)Women look over shoes for sale at the market in Cobán, Guatemala. (Richard McGuire Photo)Visiting Guatemala in 2008-09, one of the things that had changed the most since my previous visit in 1993 was the proliferation of cell phones. It seems almost every Guatemalan has one, even peasants in small villages. Like many third world countries, landline telephone service was so bad that when cell phones came along, people leapfrogged to the newer technology. (Richard McGuire Photo)A stack of fire crackers sits in the market at Cobán, Guatemala. Guatemalans love setting off massive amounts of fire crackers at holidays and other times. (Richard McGuire Photo)Women look over clothing items for sale at the market in Cobán, Guatemala. (Richard McGuire Photo)Grapes and apples imported from the United States were popular Christmas time treats sold in the markets of Guatemala, along with many local tropical fruits. (Richard McGuire Photo)This little girl saw me taking pictures in the market at Cobán and asked me to take hers. She was impressed when I showed her the photo on the LCD screen. She was even more impressed when I had prints made of some of the people I’d photographed and returned to the market to give them to them. She beamed a smile, gave me a hug, and wished me “Feliz Navidad.” (Richard McGuire Photo)A girl sells cala lilies at the market in Cobán, Guatemala. (Richard McGuire Photo)These girls were in the market at Cobán, Guatemala. Often young girls are tasked with taking care of their younger siblings. (Richard McGuire Photo)Two boys hang out at a fruit stand at the market in Cobán, Guatemala. In front of them are large, ripe papayas. (Richard McGuire Photo)The main square in Cobán was decorated with Christmas trees and coloured lights. Somehow in the warm tropics it all seemed out of place. (Richard McGuire Photo)
